Tragedy struck at an army camp located in Sabon Garin Dan’Ali, in Danmusa local government area of Katsina state on Thursday evening following the killing of a military commander.
Sources say the commander was ambushed at Malali village in Kankara local government area, where he was called to provide reinforcement to repel an attack on the village.
It was gathered that the corpse of the deceased, a major in the army, has since been deposited at a hospital in Katsina.
“As you know, Malali is along Zangon Pawwa road, and that area is completely taken over by bandits. Whenever there is an attack the security agents usually ask for reinforcement from the Maraban Dan’Ali camp, and this new commander would promptly respond,” a source told DailyTrust.
“This time around, they asked for his reinforcement and he came using a Hilux vehicle, instead of the Amoured Personnel Carrier (APC), perhaps the APCs were not available at the time. Unfortunately his assailants waylaid his vehicle and shot him in the head.”
A resident, who pleaded anonymity, said while retrieving his corpse from the scene of the incident, there was serious gun duel between the bandits and the military personnel during which the officer who picked the body also sustained gunshot injury.
“When the residents of the village alerted the security agents of the impending attack, the security personnel went and shot severally in the air without any response from the bandits, and by then the commander was on his way,” the source said.
“When the security operatives fired some shots at the direction suspected to have the bandits, they left, thinking that no one was there, but by the time the commander arrived, they targeted him and shot him,” he added.